The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-07-13
HOHENZ0LLERNS ..
THE HOUSE FROM WHICH GER
MANY'S RULER SPRINGS.
The Hohenzollerns Splendid Phys
ical Specimens Of Humanity
Habits Of the Aged
Emperor William.

When the subject of marriage be-
tween the Crown Prince and Queen Vic.
toria's eldest daughter was first broached
writes C. w. Mcllvaine in Uarper's Week.
y Bismarck was reported to have ex-
pressed his disapproval of the match in
these terms: ''It will spoil our handsome
Hohenzollerns." The House of Hanover
is . physically weak and understood
stock, while the Hohenzollcrns are, as a
rule, splendid specimens of humanity.
Bismarck's fears were realized. All the
Crown Princess children with the excep-
ton of Princess Charlotte, are common
place in appearance. Princess Charlotte,
who has subdued likeness to the Prince
of Wales, gave no promise of beauty in
her early years. The Emperor is said to
have jestingly remarked to her: ''1f had
known that you were going to turn out half
so beautiful, I would not have married you
off to Sake Meiningcn. You might have
caught a kingm Prince William, the
oldest son, is Short and slight; and al
though military training has given GER
tain hauteur to his bearing, he yet lacks
the kingly dignity and impressive eyes of
his equally small-sized ancestor, Frcdcr-
ick the Great. One of his arms Is un-
symmetrical with the other-a deformity
which is carefully concealed by the tail
or's art. Although contrast to his
grandfather in appearance, he is singu-
larly like him in mental cl aracterlstics,
and if the liberal tendencies of his father
| do not forestall him in an intermediate
reign, he will stoutly maintain all the
royal prerogatives like the present En-
peror, as he has already like him become
the general favorite of the army.
Bismarck's vexation at the thought Of
introducing Havoverian blood into the
royal succession is but an expression of
the pride which all Prussians feel in the
splendid physical development Of their
line of kings. The Emperor William
himself is every inch Hohenzollern of
the traditional type. He is considerably
above the average height, and although
age has bent his head, his figure has still
an erect, military bearing. His thin gray
whiskers, wrinkled brow, faded, almost
sallow, complexion, the failing lustre in
his quiet gray eyes, and the involuntary
4, languor which creeps at times over
his face, betray, while his activity.
and mental vigor are unable to con-
ceal, the real condition of his strength.
His face, as a whole, is ordinary. A
reader of physiognomy would be in
clined to credit the belief that in affairs
of state he often retires behind the Chan
cellor. His commanding presence, how
ever, is an outward sign of the dignity
with which he conceals this fact from
the world. Whether it is due to the
traditional economy of the Hohenzollerns
or to the strict military training from
early youth, his palaces and general hab-
its of life beft an officer rather than an
emperor. He always appears in uniform,
his business and his pleasures are Or
dered with military exactness, and he
even sleeps on the same kind of camp
bedstead which he has used on his cam
paigns. 1t is amusing to hear the COM
ments of peasant visitors to the palace
when they are shown the royal bedroom.
Their own feather-beds, they think, are
more comfortable than the imperial
couch. 1t is only in the qualification of
of his appetite that the Emperor allows
the slightest relaxation of military disci-
pline. His guests at dinner, however, do
not all share the benefits of this indul-
gence, for, according to etiquette. the
Emperor is served first, and as soon as
he has finished the course is changed,
often before those lowest in rank at the
table have had time to partake; so
many an officer anticipates royal ''feast"
by dining first at some restaurant.
Visitors at the summer palace of
Babelsberg, near Potsdam, have often
wondered what the shrine-like frame on
the Emperor's desk contains. No fee to
the guides will open its doors. They
conceal to all but the Emperor the like
ness of Elise Radziwill The Empress
80 far respects this first love of her hus-
band that she often deck the shrine with
flowers. When he was still the young
Prince William of Prussia the Emperor
fell desperately in love with the beauti-
full Elise. Unfortunately it wasa statute
in the royal family that none of its scions
should marry except into reigning
house. Lawyers tried to prove that the
Radziwills were descended from an old
Polish dynasty as royal as the Hohen-
zo!lerns. 1t was proposed that Prince
Augustus, an unmarried brother of the
then king, should adopt Elise. But no
legal qubbling could prove her of royal
birth. Meanwhile Prince Charles,
younger brother of the present Emperor,
married daughter of the Grand-duke of
Weimar. The latter declared that if
Prince William should insist upon
marrying Elise, he would claim the
throne for the issue of Prince Charles.
1t was only to prevent the possibility Of
war of succession in Prussia
that Prince William finally consented to
forego the dictates of his love. Elise
died soon afterward, and there were not
few sentimcntalists who claimed that
this was due to a broken heart. Next
to the constancy of his love for the lost
Elise, the most touching trait in the
character of the aged ruler is his fidelity
to the memory of his mother. Every
year, on the 10Th of July, the anniversary
of @ Queen Louisa's death, he goes to the
mausoleum in the quiet park of Char
lottenburg, and there with his family
holds silent communion wsth the dead.
A long experience in the great capitals is
not required to convince the visitor that
the Emperor is the most popular monarch
in Europe. Evidence of this is given
upon every appearance of his in public,
whether it is at the historic corner
window of his palace. where knots of